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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 

DIALECTIC  AND  PHDLANTHROPIC 

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00019211684 


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Form  No  513. 
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in  2012  with  funding  from 

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1  / 

J 


■■ 


\  i  COLORED  MAN'S  REMINISCENCES 


'  •>..*-  ' 


JAMES  MADISON 


: 


-    -  ; 


COLORED  MAN'S  REMINISCENCES 


OF 


/SO  STa. 


JAMES  MADISON. 


By  PAUL  JENNINGS. 


BROOKLYN : 

GEORGE  C.  BEADLE 

1865. 


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YH"  LIBRARY 
riBSiTY  OF  NORTH 
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PREFACE 


Among  the  laborers  at  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  is  an  intelligent  colored  man,  Paul  Jen- 
nings, who  was  born  a  slave  on  President  Madison's 
estate,  in  Montpelier,  Va.,  in  1799.  His  reputed 
father  was  Benj.  Jennings,  an  English  trader  there; 
his  mother,  a  slave  of  Mr.  Madison,  and  the  grand- 
daughter of  an  Indian.  Paul  was  a  "body  servant" 
of  Mr.  Madison,  till  his  death,  and  afterwards  of 
Daniel  Webster,  having  purchased  his  freedom  of 
Mrs.  Madison.  His  character  for  sobriety,  truth, 
and  fidelity,  is  unquestioned;  and  as  he  was  a 
daily  witness  of  interesting  events,  I  have  thought 
some  of  his  recollections  were  worth  writing 
down  in  almost  his  own  language. 


4o 


[iv] 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1865,  at  a  curious  sale  I 
of  books,  coins  and  autographs  belonging  to  Edward 
M.  Thomas,  a  colored  man,  for  many  years  Mess- 
enger  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  sold, 
among  other  curious  lots,  an  autograph  of  Daniel 
Webster,  containing  these  words:  "I  have  paid 
$120  for  the  freedom  of  Paul  Jennings ;  he  agrees 
to  work  out  the  same  at  $8  per  month,  to  be  fur- 
nished with  board,  clothes,  washing,"  &c. 

J.  B.  E. 


tffo&<r :  /a.     /fZ/f . 

/lts~-^44s     /%~zrz++-d         &£rf£2^ 


REMINISCENCES  OF  MADISON. 


About  ten  years  before  Mr.  Madison  was  Presi- 
dent, he  and  Colonel  Monroe  were  rival  candidates 
for  the  Legislature.  Mr.  Madison  was  anxious  to 
be  elected,  and  sent  his  chariot  to  bring  up  a 
Scotchman  to  the  polls,  who  lived  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. But  when  brought  up,  he  cried  out :  a  Put 
me  down  for  Colonel  Monroe,  for  he  was  the  first 
man  that  took  me  by  the  hand  in  this  country." 
Colonel  Monroe  was  elected,  and  his  friends  joked 
Mr.  Madison  pretty  hard  about  his  Scotch  friend, 
and  I  have  heard  Mr.  Madison  and  Colonel  Mon- 
roe have  many  a  hearty  laugh  over  the  subject, 
for  years  after. 

When  Mr.  Madison  was  chosen  President,  we 
came  on  and  moved  into  the  White  House ;  the 
east   room   was   not  finished,   and  Pennsylvania 


[6] 

Avenue  was  not  paved,  but  was  always  in  an 
awful  condition  from  either  mud  or  dust.  The 
city  was  a  dreary  place. 

Mr.  Robert  Smith  was  then  Secretary  of  State, 
but  as  he  and  Mr.   Madison    could  not  agree,  he 

was  removed,  and  Colonel  Monroe   appointed   to 

» 

his  place.  Dr.  Eustis  was  Secretary  of  War — 
rather  a  rough,  blustering  man ;  Mr.  Gallatin,  a 
tip-top  man,  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and 
Mr.  Hamilton,  of  South  Carolina,  a  pleasant  gen- 
tleman, who  thought  Mr.  Madison  could  do  noth- 
ing wrong,  and  who  always  concurred  in  every 
thing  he  said,  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

Before  the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  there 
were  frequent  consultations  at  the  White  House 
as  to  the  expediency  of  doing  it.  Colonel  Monroe 
was  always  fierce  for  it,  so  were  Messrs.  Lowndes, 
Giles,  Poydrass,  and  Pope  —  all  Southerners;  all 
his  Secretaries  were  likewise  in  favor  of  it. 

Soon  after  war  was  declared,  Mr.  Madison  made 
his  regular  summer  visit  to  his  farm  in  Virginia. 
We    had  not  been   there  long  before  an  express 


[7] 

reached  us  one  evening,  informing  Mr.  M.  of  Gen. 
Hull's  surrender.  He  was  astounded  at  the  news, 
and  started  back  to  Washington  the  next  morning. 
After  the  war  had  been  going  on  for  a  couple  of 
years,  the  people  of  Washington  began  to  be 
alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  city,  as  the  British 
held  Chesapeake  Bay  with  a  powerful  fleet  and 
army.  Every  thing  seemed  to  be  left  to  General 
Armstrong,  then  Secretary  of  war,  who  ridiculed 
the  idea  that  there  was  any  danger.  But,  in  Au- 
gust, 1814,  the  enemy  had  got  so  near,  there  could 
be  no  doubt  of  their  intentions.  Great  alarm 
existed,  and  some  feeble  preparations  for  defence 
were  made.  Com.  Barney's  flotilla  was  stripped 
of  men,  who  were  placed  in  battery,  at  Bladens- 
burg,  where  they  fought  splendidly.  A  large  part 
of  his  men  were  tall,  strapping  negroes,  mixed 
with  white  sailors  and  marines.  Mr.  Madison  re- 
viewed them  just  before  the  fight,  and  asked  Com. 
Barney  if  his  "  negroes  would  not  run  on  the 
approach  of  the  British  ?"  u  No  sir,"  said  Barney, 
"  they   don't  know  how  to  run ;  they  will  die  by 


[8] 

their  guns  first."  They  fought  till  a  large  part  of 
them  were  killed  or  wounded ;  and  Barney  him- 
self wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  One  or  two  of 
these  negroes  are  still  living  here. 

Well,  on  the  24th  of  August,  sure  enough,  the 
British  reached  Bladensburg,  and  the  fight  began 
between  11  and  12.  Even  that  very  morning 
General  Armstrong  assured  Mrs.  Madison  there 
was  no  danger.  The  President,  with  General 
Armstrong,  General  Winder,  Colonel  Monroe, 
Richard  Rush,  Mr.  Graham,  Tench  Ringgold,  and 
Mr.  Duvall,  rode  out  on  horseback  to  Bladensburg 
to  see  how  things  looked.  Mrs.  Madison  ordered 
dinner  to  be  ready  at  3,  as  usual ;  I  set  the  table 
myself,  and  brought  up  the  ale,  cider,  and  wine, 
and  placed  them  in  the  coolers,  as  all  the  Cabinet 
and  several  military  gentlemen  and  strangers  were 
expected.  While  waiting,  at  just  about  3,  as 
Sukey,  the  house-servant,  was  lolling  out  of  a 
chamber  window,  James  Smith,  a  free  colored  man 
who  had  accompanied  Mr.  Madison  to  Bladens- 
burg, gallopped  up  to  the  house,  waving  his  hat, 


[9] 

and  cried  out,  "Clear  out,  clear  out !  General 
Armstrong  has  ordered  a  retreat !"  All  then  was 
confusion.  Mrs.  Madison  ordered  her  carriage, 
and  passing  through  the  dining-room,  caught  up 
what  silver  she  could  crowd  into  her  old-fashioned 
reticule,  and  then  jumped  into  the  chariot  with 
her  servant  girl  Sukey,  and  Daniel  Carroll,  who 
took  charge  of  them;  Jo.  Bolin  drove  them  over 
to  Georgetown  Heights ;  the  British  were  expected 
in  a  few  minutes.  Mr.  Cutts,  her  brother-in-law, 
sent  me  to  a  stable  on  14th  street,  for  his  carriage. 
People  were  running  in  every  direction.  John 
Freeman  (the  colored  butler)  drove  off  in  the 
coachee  with  his  wife,  child,  and  servant;  also  a 
feather  bed  lashed  on  behind  the  coachee,  which 
was  all  the  furniture  saved,  except  part  of  the 
silver  and  the  portrait  of  Washington  (of  which  I 
will  tell  you  by-and-by) . 

I  will  here  mention  that  although  the  British 
were  expected  every  minute,  they  did  not  arrive 
for  some  hours ;  in  the  mean  time,  a  rabble,  taking 
2 


[10] 

advantage  of  the  confusion,  ran  all  over  the  White 
House,  and  stole  lots  of  silver  and  whatever  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on. 

About  sundown  I  walked  over  to  the  George- 
town ferry,  and  found  the  President  and  all  hands 
(the  gentlemen  named  before,  who  acted  as  a  sort 
of  body-guard  for  him)  waiting  for  the  boat.  It 
soon  returned,  and  we  all  crossed  over,  and  passed 
up  the  road  about  a  mile  ;  they  then  left  us  serv- 
ants to  wander  about.  In  a  short  time  several 
wagons  from  Bladensburg,  drawn  by  Barney's 
artillery  horses,  passed  up  the  road,  having  crossed 
the  Long  Bridge  before  it  was  set  on  fire.  As  we 
were  cutting  up  some  pranks  a  white  wagoner 
ordered  us  away,  and  told  his  boy  Tommy  to 
reach  out  his  gun,  and  he  would  shoot  us.  I  told 
him  "  he  had  better  have  used  it  at  Bladensburg." 
Just  then  we  came  up  with  Mr.  Madison  and  his 
friends,  who  had  been  wandering  about  for  some 
hours,  consulting  what  to  do.  I  walked  on  to  a 
Methodist  minister's,  and  in  the  evening,  while  he 


r  ii  3 

was  at  prayer,  I  heard  a  tremendous  explosion,  and, 
rushing  out,  saw  that  the  public  buildings,  navy 
yard,  ropewalks,  &c,  were  on  fire. 

Mrs.  Madison  slept  that  night  at  Mrs.  Love's, 
two  or  three  miles  over  the  river.  After  leaving 
that  place  she  called  in  at  a  house,  and  went  up 
stairs.  The  lady  of  the  house  learning  who  she 
was,  became  furious,  and  went  to  the  stairs  and 
screamed  out,  "  Miss  Madison !  if  that's  you,  come 
down  and  go  out!  Your  husband  has  got  mine  out 
fighting,  and  d — you,  you  shan't  stay  in  my 
house  ;  so  get  out !"  Mrs.  Madison  complied,  and 
went  to  Mrs.  Minor's,  a  few  miles  further,  where 
she  stayed  a  day  or  two,  and  then  returned  to 
Washington,  where  she  found  Mr.  Madison  at  her 
brother-in-law's,  Richard  Cutts,  on  F  street.  All 
the  facts  about  Mrs.  M.  I  learned  from  her  serv- 
ant Sukey.  We  moved  into  the  house  of  Colonel 
John  B.  Taylor,  corner  of  18th  street  and  New 
York  Avenue,  where  we  lived  till  the  news  of 
peace  arrived. 

In  two  or  three  weeks  after  we  returned,  Con- 


[12] 

gress  met  in  extra  session,  at  Blodgett's  old  shell 
of  a  house  on  7th  street  (where  the  General  Post- 
office  now  stands) .  It  was  three  stories  high,  and 
had  been  used  for  a  theatre,  a  tavern,  an  Irish 
boarding  house,  &c;  but  both  Houses  of  Congress 
managed  to  get  along  in  it  very  well,  notwith 
standing  it  had  to  accommodate  the  Patent-office, 
City  and  General  Post-office,  committee-rooms,  and 
what  was  left  of  the  Congressional  Library,  at  the 
same  time.     Things  are  very  different  now. 

The  next  summer,  Mr.  John  Law,  a  large  prop- 
erty-holder about  the  Capitol,  fearing  it  would 
not  be  rebuilt,  got  up  a  subscription  and  built  a 
large  brick  building  (now  called  the  Old  Capitol, 
where  the  secesh  prisoners  are  confined),  and 
offered  it  to  Congress  for  their  use,  till  the  Capitol 
could  be  rebuilt.  This  coaxed  them  back,  though 
strong  efforts  were  made  to  remove  the  seat  of 
government  north ;  but  the  southern  members 
kept  it  here. 

It  has  often  been  stated  in  print,  that  when 
Mrs.   Madison   escaped   from   the  White  House, 


[13] 

she  cut  out  from  the  frame  the  large  portrait  of 
Washington  (now  in  one  of  the  parlors  there), 
and  carried  it  off.  This  is  totally  false.  She  had 
no  time  for  doing  it.  It  would  have  required  a 
ladder  to  get  it  down.  All  she  carried  off  was  the 
silver  in  her  reticule,  as  the  British  were  thought 
to  be  but  a  few  squares  off,  and  were  expected 
every  moment.  John  Suse  (a  Frenchman,  then 
door-keeper,  and  still  living)  and  Magraw,  the 
President's  gardener,  took  it  down  and  sent  it  off 
on  a  wagon,  with  some  large  silver  urns  and  such 
other  valuables  as  could  be  hastily  got  hold  of. 
When  the  British  did  arrive,  they  ate  up  the  very 
dinner,  and  drank  the  wines,  &c,  that  I  had  pre- 
pared for  the  President's  party. 

When  the  news  of  peace  arrived,  we  were  crazy 
with  joy.  Miss  Sally  Coles,  a  cousin  of  Mrs. 
Madison,  and  afterwards  wife  of  Andrew  Steven- 
son, since  minister  to  England,  came  to  the  head 
of  the  stairs,  crying  out,  "  Peace !  peace !"  and  told 
John  Freeman  (the  butler)  to  serve  out  wine 
liberally  to   the  servants  and   others.     I   played 


[14] 

the  President's  March  on  the  violin,  John  Suse" 
and  some  others  were  drunk  for  two  days,  and 
such  another  joyful  time  was  never  seen  in  Wash- 
ington. Mr.  Madison  and  all  his  Cabinet  were 
as  pleased  as  any,  but  did  not  show  their  joy  in 
this  manner. 

Mrs.  Madison  was  a  remarkably  fine  woman. 
She  was  beloved  by  every  body  in  "Washington, 
white  and  colored.  Whenever  soldiers  marched 
by,  during  the  war,  she  always  sent  out  and 
invited  them  in  to  take  wine  and  refreshments, 
giving  them  liberally  of  the  best  in  the  house. 
Madeira  wine  was  better  in  those  davs  than  now, 
and  more  freely  drank.  In  the '  last  days  of  her 
life,  before  Congress  purchased  her  husband's 
papers,  she  was  in  a  state  of  absolute  poverty,  and 
I  think  sometimes  suffered  for  the  necessaries  of 
life.  While  I  was  a  servant  to  Mr.  Webster,  he 
often  sent  me  to  her  with  a  market-basket  full 
of  provisions,  and  told  me  whenever  I  saw  any- 
thing in  the  house  that  I  thought  she  was  in  need 
of,  to  take  it  to  her.     I  often  did  this,  and  occa- 


[15] 

sionally  gave  her  small  sums  from  my  own  pocket, 
though  I  had  years  before  bought  my  freedom  of 
her. 

|Mr.  Madison,  I  think,  was  one  of  the  best  men 
that  ever  lived.  I  never  saw  him  in  a  passion, 
and  never  knew  him  to  strike  a  slave,  although 
he  had  over  one  hundred;  neither  would  he  allow 
an  overseer  to  do  it.  Whenever  any  slaves  were 
reported  to  him  as  stealing  or  "cutting  up"  badly, 
he  would  send  for  them  and  admonish  them  pri- 
vately, and  never  mortify  them  by  doing  it  before 
others.  They  generally  served  him  very  faith- 
fully. He  was  temperate  in  his  habits.  I  don't 
think  he  drank  a  quart  of  brandy  in  his  whole 
life.  He  ate  light  breakfasts  and  no  suppers,  but 
rather  a  hearty  dinner,  with  which  he  took  inva- 
riably but  one  glass  of  wine.  When  he  had  hard 
drinkers  at  his  table,  who  had  put  away  his 
choice  Madeira  pretty  freely,  in  response  to  their 
numerous  toasts,  he  would  just  touch  the  glass  to 
his  lips,  or  dilute  it  with  water,  as  they  pushed 


[16] 

about  the  decanters.     For  the  last  fifteen  years  of 
his  life  he  drank  no  wine  at  all. 

After  he  retired  from  the  presidency,  he  amused 
himself  chiefly  on  his  farm.  At  the  election  for 
members  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  in  1829  or 
'30,  just  after  General  Jackson's  accession,  he 
voted  for  James  Barbour,  who  had  been  a  strong 
Adams  man.  He  also  presided,  I  think,  over 
the  Convention  for  amending  the  Constitution, 
in  1832. 

After  the  news  of  peace,  and  of  General  Jack- 
son's victory  at  New  Orleans,  which  reached  here 
about  the  same  time,  there  were  great  illumina- 
tions. We  moved  into  the  Seven  Buildings, 
Gorner  of  1  9th-street  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue, 
and  while  there,  General  Jackson  came  on  with 
his  wife,  to  whom  numerous  dinner-parties  and 
levees  were  given.  Mr.  Madison  also  held  levees 
every  Wednesday  evening,  at  which  wine,  punch, 
coffee,  ice-cream,  &c,  were  liberally  served,  unlike 
the  present  custom. 


[17] 

While  Mr.  Jefferson  was  President,  he  and  Mr. 
Madison  (then  his  Secretary  of  State)  were  ex- 
tremely intimate ;  in  fact,  two  brothers  could  not 
have  been  more  so.  Mr.  Jefferson  always  stopped 
over  night  at  Mr.  Madison's,  in  going  and  return- 
ing from  "Washington. 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Madison  say,  that  when  he 
went  to  school,  he  cut  his  own  wood  for  exercise. 
He  often  did  it  also  when  at  his  farm  in  Virginia. 
He  was  very  neat,  but  never  extravagant,  in  his 
clothes.  He  always  dressed  wholly  in  black — • 
coat,  breeches,  and  silk  stockings,  with  buckles  in 
his  shoes  and  breeches.  He  never  had  but  one 
suit  at  a  time.  He  had  some  poor  relatives  that 
he  had  to  help,  and  wished  to  set  them  an  exam- 
ple of  economy  in  the  matter  of  dress.  He  was 
very  fond  of  horses,  and  an  excellent  -judge  of 
them,  and  no  jockey  ever  cheated  him.  He  never 
had  less  than  seven  horses  in  his  Washington 
stables  while  President. 

He  often  told  the  story,  that  one  day  riding 
home  from  court  with  old  Tom  Barbour  (father  of 
Governor  Barbour),  they  met  a  colored  man,  who 


[18] 

took  off  his  hat.  Mr.  M.  raised  his,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  old  Tom;  to  whom  Mr.  M.  replied,  "I 
never  allow  a  negro  to  excel  me  in  politeness." 
Though  a  similar  story  is  told  of  General  Wash- 
ington, I  have  often  heard  this,  as  above,  from 
Mr.  Madison's  own  lips. 

After  Mr.  Madison  retired  from  the  presidency, 
in  1817,  he  invariably  made  a  visit  twice  a  year 
to  Mr.  Jefferson  —  sometimes  stopping  two  or 
three  weeks — till  Mr.  Jefferson's  death,  in  1826. 

I  was  always  with  Mr.  Madison  till  he  died, 
and  shaved  him  every  other  day  for  sixteen  years. 
For  six  months  before  his  death,  he  was  unable 
to  walk,  and  spent  most  of  his  time  reclined  on  a 
couch;  but  his  mind  was  bright,  and  with  his 
numerous  visitors  he  talked  with  as  much  anima- 
tion and  strength  of  voice  as  I  ever  heard  him  in 
his  best  days.  I  was  present  when  he  died. 
That  morning  Sukey  brought  him  his  breakfast, 
as  usual.  He  could  not  swallow.  His  niece,  Mrs. 
"Willis,  said,  "What  is  the  matter, Uncle  Jeames?" 
"  Nothing  more  than  a  change  of  mind,  my  dear." 


[19] 

His  head  instantly  dropped,  and  he  ceased  breath- 
ing as  quietly  as  the  snuff  of  a  candle  goes  out. 
He  was  about  eighty-four  years  old,  and  was  fol- 
lowed to  the  grave  by  an  immense  procession  of 
white  and  colored  people.  The  pall-bearers  were 
Governor  Barbour,  Philip  P.  Barbour,  Charles  P. 
Howard,  and  Reuben  Conway ;  the  two  last  were 
neighboring  farmers. 


